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Forman: Very High Ceiling For Teague

NEW ORLEANS, LA - APRIL 02: Marquis Teague #25 of the Kentucky Wildcats lays the ball up against the Kansas Jayhawks in the first half in the National Championship Game of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on April 2, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Marquis Teague. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

(WSCR) He won’t be the starting point guard when the Bulls kick off the regular season, but first-round selection Marquis Teague can have an impact on the Bulls in the 2012-13 season.

“I know it’s kind of the old cliche – you hear it every year, ‘We didn’t expect him to be here. We didn’t think he would drop this far.’ But that really is the case this year,” Bulls general manager Gar Forman told The Score’s David Schuster. “We had Marquis Teague ranked a lot higher than where he went. So, when he was there, we thought it was a real opportunity to get value with the 29th pick and get a player that we think has a really high ceiling moving forward.

“He’s gotta come in here and learn how to be a pro and learn our system. He’s gotta get to work. Long term, we think he’s got a really, really high ceiling. Across the board, as we did all our background, we heard a lot of good things about him. What was really consistent was that he’s a really competitive kid that wants to win, which obviously we like to hear.”

Teague will act as a backup for Derrick Rose, who is working to recover from an ACL tear, but the Bulls will still need to add a veteran point guard before the season begins.

“We’ve done a lot of planning going into free agency, which start starts Sunday,” Forman said. “We can’t talk about specific names, but, obviously, it’s still a position we need to address. Right now, Marquis is the only point guard we have on our roster, outside of Derrick, who we know is going to miss some time. That’s one of the things we’re going to look at starting Sunday as we fill out our team.”

As for Rose, Forman said the point guard is rehabbing quite nicely.

“He’s doing terrific,” Forman said. “I think physically, he’s doing good, and mentally, he’s in a good place. He’s attacking this rehab, and so far it has been really positive.”

“It’s still early in the process, but up to this point, it’s been very good.”